Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Baroness Lytton
-
Standard Name: Lytton, Rosina Bulwer Lytton,,, Baroness
Birth Name: Rosina Wheeler
Married Name: Rosina Bulwer Lytton
Pseudonym: Hon. George Scott
RBLBL
wrote prolifically after her separation from her husband in 1836, penning sixteen novels, as well as a collection of essays and an autobiography. A vein of polemic runs through her work regarding the treatment of women, particularly married women, under nineteenth-century British law. She encountered great difficulty in getting her work published because of her notoriety and the pressure that her husband, a successful novelist, exerted on publishers. He even obtained legal injunctions against her work, which often parodied him.
Blain, Virginia. “Rosina Bulwer Lytton and the Rage of the Unheard”. The Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol.
There are indications, however, that a rather suspect class standing contributed along with somewhat bohemian behaviour to the difficulty she had about weathering scandal. Benjamin Disraeli
famously and snobbishly wrote of a party at the
Friends, Associates
Anna Maria Hall
One of AMH
's closest friends was the actress Helen Faucit
, later Lady Martin. Though socially conservative in her attitudes, she was apparently more ready than her husband to achieve friendly relations with those...
Friends, Associates
Catherine Gore
CG
was acquainted with a number of important literary figures. Before leaving London for the Continent she attended an assembly given by Rosina Bulwer-Lytton
to which Disraeli
, Lady Morgan
, and Letitia Landon
also...
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Family and Intimate relationships
Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, first Earl Lytton
His mother was the novelist Rosina Bulwer Lytton
. Her often violent marriage to Edward Bulwer Lytton
ended in a very public separation. While she initially retained custody of their two children, Emily and young...
Family and Intimate relationships
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
On 29 August 1827 Edward Bulwer
(later Bulwer-Lytton) married Rosina Wheeler
; his mother disapproved of the marriage and stopped his allowance.
Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Baroness Lytton,. “Introduction”. A Blighted Life, edited by Marie Mulvey Roberts, Thoemmes, p. vi - xxxvi.
xvi
Wealth and Poverty
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
He also sold off all of his new wife
's assets. He then announced that he had got every shilling of her property, and she was completely in his power.
Devey, Louisa. Life of Rosina, Lady Lytton. Swan Sonnenschein, Lowery, http://U. of Toronto.
426
Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Baroness Lytton,. “Introduction”. A Blighted Life, edited by Marie Mulvey Roberts, Thoemmes, p. vi - xxxvi.
xvi
Violence
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
The marriage was fraught with violence. Edward
once bit a chunk out of his wife's cheek during a fight. During another dispute, Rosina
burnt Edward's favourite shirt.
Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Baroness Lytton,. “Introduction”. A Blighted Life, edited by Marie Mulvey Roberts, Thoemmes, p. vi - xxxvi.
xvi
Blain, Virginia. “Rosina Bulwer Lytton and the Rage of the Unheard”. The Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol.
53
, No. 3, pp. 210-36.
225
Family and Intimate relationships
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
On 8 November 1831, Edward Bulwer
's second child with his wife Rosina
, Edward Robert Bulwer
, was born. He grew up to be a writer like both of his parents, as well as a diplomat.
Sadleir, Michael. Bulwer: A Panorama. Constable.
161
Family and Intimate relationships
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
In April 1836 Edward Bulwer
and his wife separated. Rosina Bulwer
(later Bulwer-Lytton) retained custody of their children for two years. In 1838, Edward took custody of the children and denied her access to them...
Violence
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
On 21 June 1858, Bulwer Lytton
committed his estranged wife, Rosina Bulwer Lytton
, to a lunatic asylum after she spoke publicly in Hertford against his candidacy for parliament as a Tory. Public outrage over...
Fictionalization
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
Despite the controversy surrounding some of his early writings, Bulwer-Lytton was recognised by mid-Victorian critics as a significant and accomplished novelist. Once Rosina Bulwer Lytton
, his estranged wife, turned to writing to support herself...
Family and Intimate relationships
Isa Blagden
IB
nursed Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton
, diplomat, author, and son of Rosina Bulwer Lytton
, through a serious bout of gastric fever.
Raymond, William O. “Our Lady of Bellosguardo: A Pastel Portrait”. University of Toronto Quarterly, Vol.
xii
, pp. 446-63.
450
Browning, Robert, and Isa Blagden. “Introduction”. Dearest Isa: Robert Browning’s Letters to Isabella Blagden, edited by Edward C. McAleer, Greenwood Press, p. xix - xxxiii.
xxviii
Textual Production
Matilda Betham-Edwards
Owen Meredith was the son of two writers: Rosina
and Edward Bulwer Lytton
. He was born in 1831, five years before his parents separated. He was about seven when his father removed him from...
Leisure and Society
Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger
Late in life EOB
ran a kind of salon which was remarkable for being bohemian and operating on a shoestring: with tea rather than wine (unlike the lavish salons of contemporary society hostesses like Lady Holland
